Giants’ updates on Sandoval, Zito, Tanaka, Tim Flannery and Matt Cain

– Championships are becoming commonplace for Pablo Sandoval, who led his Venezuelan team to a title. The MVP of the World Series three months ago is the MVP of the Venezuelan championship series. He homered and doubled twice in the decisive seventh game to help the Navegantes del Magallanes beat Cardenales 11-9 on Wednesday.

Baseball Venezuela Sandoval

Paul Sancya/AP

“There’s nothing like being champion here in Venezuela with the Navegantes,” the Panda was quoted as saying. “Although it can’t be compared with winning the World Series, because they’re different things. But it’s very special to be champion here.”

So much for that abdominal pain that briefly sent him to a hospital.

Sandoval was desperate to play in his home country after his team lost the championship in 2010.

“This time I did everything I could so that the Giants would let me play, to take this team to the title,” Sandoval said. “It’s a dream come true. Being champions with the Magallanes and with the Giants the same year is something very special. I feel very happy to have contributed and to have been selected as MVP.”

Guess which pitcher got the win in the finale? None other than Jean Machi, who posted a 6.75 ERA in eight games for last year’s Giants.

– Congrats to Barry Zito, who won the 48th Hutch Award, a prestigious honor given to a player who “exemplifies the honor, courage and dedication” of Seattle native Fred Hutchinson, who played and managed in the majors.

“I’m on board. This is a cause I’m involved in now from here on out,” Zito was quoted as saying in the Seattle Times.

In 1964, Hutchinson died at 45 of cancer. His brother, Dr. Bill Hutchinson, started the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, which Zito visited, at one point hearing a scientist talk about cell research and the possibility of regeneration of diseased lungs.

In his acceptance speech at Safeco Field, Zito said, “It was surreal to even hear that. To be in the lab today where these cures are actually devised is something so beyond anything we could ever do in our little sports world. It has been incredible to see firsthand.”

Former Hutch Award winner Dave Dravecky was in attendance, and keynote speaker Lou Piniella said of Zito, who founded Strikeouts For Troops, “I can’t think of a player more worthy of receiving this award.”

The Seattle Times quoted Zito talking about his pivotal NLCS Game 5 performance that began the Giants’ postseason-ending seven-game win streak: “My only goal was to go out and give everything I had and to know if I was going to be sitting at home in the offseason for four months, I wasn’t going to be saying, ‘What if?’ It was just about going out and doing my best. All of a sudden, the blessings came through in droves, and it took us all the way to a World Series sweep.

“I feel so blessed and honored to be receiving any award, because a lot of people gave up on me. This is the cap of it all here after this great offseason. To be honored here is just so humbling.”

– Second baseman Kensuke Tanaka gave his first public comments after signing a minor-league deal with the Giants.

In Japan, Tanaka called the signing “my dream for a long time” and said his goal is “to make the 25-man roster then be an everyday player eventually.” He said he likes the Giants because, “I notice the similarity between the Giants and Fighters in the way they play baseball. I think I can fit well with the Giants.”

Tanaka, 31, was an All-Star and Gold Glover with the Nippon Ham Fighters. A career .286 hitter with a .356 on-base percentage, Tanaka hit .303 with three homers and 32 RBIs in 114 games last season, which was shortened by an elbow injury.

He actually was hurt on an August play involving Hiroyuki Nakajima, Oakland’s new starting shortstop. I asked Nakajima about it at the A’s FanFest on Sunday, and he said through interpreter Hiroo Nishi, “I was sliding into first base. Mr. Tanaka was covering first base. We collided. That’s when Mr. Tanaka injured his arm.”

Apparently, there’s no bad blood.

“Mr. Tanaka is one year above me, a one-year upperclassman compared to me,” Nakajima said. “We’ve maintained a very solid relationship. Before I signed with the Athletics and before he signed with the Giants, we contacted each other.”

If you haven’t heard his tribute to the 2012 championship season, “21 Days,” I’m sure you will a lot in the future. Flannery wrote the music and lyrics, and he delivers his performance from the heart. Here are the lyrics:

Well, I heard a band of brothers singing destiny’s our call

History will be changed tonight with our backs against the wall

I knew the odds before me, I didn’t stand a chance

Jokers started smiling, queen of hearts danced her dance

Over in the corner, barkeep offered up last call

All I need is a little hope with my back against the wall

The cards I was getting came off fast, just like the booze

Every gambler always plays with nothing left to lose

That could make you dangerous, but it don’t soften up the fall

Forecast isn’t pretty when your back’s against the wall

Bang the drum and sound the trumpets

Have you heard the master’s call?

Odds like these cannot be beaten

Til your back’s against the wall

I felt we were outnumbered, I saw ‘em closing in

Desperation looked down on us like vultures circling in

Then I heard a band of brothers singing destiny’s our call

History will be changed tonight with our backs against the wall

We slammed through Cincinnati, in Missouri we had to show

Every breath we ever took had a purpose of its own

In Motown we found magic, together we grew strong

Twenty-one days that forged us through, our backs against the wall

Bang the drum and sound the trumpet

Heed the battle call

Odds like these cannot be beaten

Til our back’s against the wall

Well I knew the odds before me and we didn’t stand a chance

–Matt Cain, the longest-tenured Giant, broke into the majors in 2005. Two years later, Tim Lincecum arrived and quickly became the ace, getting assigned four straight Opening Day starts through 2012. Well, Cain is the ace now. He’s coming off a career year, and Lincecum is coming off his worst season.

There’s no debate that Cain deserves the nod to start the Giants’ opener at Dodger Stadium on April 1.

I spoke with Cain the other day, and he was confident Lincecum will have a bounce-back year, especially after Lincecum’s postseason work out of the bullpen. No Giants pitcher has seen more of Lincecum than Cain, who understands the mental and physical aspects of Lincecum’s game.

Regarding 2013 and following up a championship – as related to 2011, when the Giants failed to make the playoffs following a championship — Cain said, “The biggest thing is to stay level-headed. The stuff (on 2012) has already been written. We need to write a new story.”